Brewers lose 16-inning marathon

In the wee hours of the morning the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals were still battling it out in game two of their three-game series at Miller Park. This game began at 7:10 CT on Tuesday evening, and concluded at 12:32 Monday morning after Nationals left fielder Ryan Zimmerman jacked a two-run home run off Brewers reliever Mike Fiers.

The Brewers were five outs away from earning the victory when hard throwing left handed set-up man Will Smith delivered a fastball over the plate that Anthony Rendon hit for a game tying solo home run in the eighth inning.

Many thought the game was almost over prior to the pitch, but after the pitch the game was just underway as this moment signaled the half waypoint.

Lasting five hours and 22 minutes, this game tied the Brewers longest time of game in Miller Park’s 14-year history.

As each inning went by the crowd grew smaller and smaller, as the Brewers continued to fail on their opportunity to win the ball game. Overall they ended the game only one for nine with runners in scoring position, while stranding 11 base runners.

Following the game as the clock ticked towards 1 a.m. CT manager Ron Roenicke sat down to talk with reports. Everyone could tell Roenicke was displeased.

“We had some chances today and we just had some bad at-bats,” said Roenicke. “We lost the game because we didn’t get good at-bats when we needed a hit.”

Sure the Nationals pitchers threw extremely well, but that is no excuse for the second highest scoring offense in the National League.

Twice Carlos Gomez had the opportunity to end the game in extras, and both times he failed.

In the 13th inning, Nationals reliever Ross Detwiler intentionally walked Jonathan Lucroy to bring Gomez to the plate with two outs and two men on base. On the first pitch, Gomez hit a weak line drive to shortstop Ian Desmond.

Then in the 15th it was almost the exact same story. With Tyler Clippard standing on the hill for the Nationals he intentionally walked Lucroy giving Gomez another chance. Unfortunately for the Brewers sake, it didn’t turn out the way they would have hoped it would. On the first pitch Gomez hit a popup to Adam LaRoche at first base.

While Roenicke didn’t single out Gomez, he was disappointed in the Brewers’ offensive showing.

“I don’t want him looking at a pitch, but I do want him to look for a good pitch to hit,” Roenicke said. “He’s not any different than anybody else — just get a good pitch to hit. I don’t have any problem with any of those guys swinging at pitches, but we’re swinging at pitches way off the plate and it hurt.”

Yovani Gallardo started for the Brewers and recorded his fourth straight quality start, as he threw six strong innings surrendering only one run on four hits with five strikeouts.

Ryan Braun gave the Brewers the lead in the fifth on a go-ahead two-RBI base hit off of Nationals righty Jordan Zimmermann.

No team ever wants to lose, but it is even more devastating when you play 16 innings and can’t find away to win after having multiple chances. This game depleted the Brewers bullpen and don’t be surprised if they make a change in their bullpen to bring in a fresh arm. The real question is if this game will have a lasting impact on the team the rest of the season. I don’t think so, but if the Brewers offense doesn’t start turning things around and improves on their hitting with runners in scoring position, then don’t be surprised if the Brewers continue to lose tight ball games like this one.